Julia & Zack
For Julia and Zack, June 11, 2016 was one of the most memorable days. Why? It was the day they said “I do!” We interviewed Julia to learn more about their wedding story.
Julia and Zack first met on the social media website, Tumblr. The internet makes it incredibly easy for people to meet no matter how far away they are. You could meet your soul mate on the other side of the world if it was meant to be! Julia and Zack found their way to each other and now, they are happily married.
They chose to have their wedding on June 11 for multiple reasons. Julia says, “I have always wanted to get married in the fall, but he proposed in May 2015, and waiting until the following autumn just felt too long.” They also felt that the day would have the best weather for an outdoor wedding. Both the ceremony and the reception were held in Julia’s parents’ backyard in Sharon, Massachusetts. Julia says, “Most wedding venues are so generic with really strict rules (plus SO expensive!), so we decided the yard gave us the most flexibility to make the wedding exactly what we wanted it to be.”
The decorations for the wedding were minimalist. They really wanted a “casual, fun, backyard BBQ feel” says Julia. They also used growlers as centerpieces to display their common interest in different types of beer. They collected the growlers the year prior to wedding following their engagement to ensure that their personal touch was present. “The yellow lanterns hanging in the tent were a last minute decision after the tent had been set up because we thought it needed something else to break up all the space (it was a really big tent!)” says Julia showing that she saw the blank canvas in front of her and was able to transform that into something that she loved even at the last minute. They also hung string lights around the yard.
Julia and Zack only ran into a few difficulties during the wedding planning process. They were able to face them head on and resolve them to the best of their ability. One difficulty that they ran into was during their site visit with Bob Costa, owner of B.C. Tent. Bob recommended that they get a 30×50 tent for the wedding but the yard was only 27ft long! Thankfully they were able to spend, “the entire day pushing back all the brush and bramble to gain the extra 3ft,” which they were successful in doing right after he left. There was also a threat of rain on the wedding day which would cause any bride and groom a higher level of stress.
Julia actually enjoyed the whole wedding planning process as she is “a planner and a very detail-oriented person.” She planned the whole wedding herself with some help from her mother and now-husband. Her least favorite part though was waiting for everything that was planned to arrive. The thoughts that ran through her head were: “why is the caterer running late, will our friends be able to pick up the donuts we ordered, will the taps actually pour cold beer?” She now says “it was fun to plan, but I’m glad I get to think about other things now!”
Their main goal when allocating the budget was to spend as little as possible. Julia states that “Any way we looked at it, we just couldn’t justify spending so much on one day.” Of course there were some things that they splurged on such as the tent, photographer and the food. They spent less on flowers, wine and music to ensure that they had enough money for the bigger purchases. They used Spotify playlists for the music. Even though they may have spent more than they had originally anticipated Julia says “we don’t feel like a single penny was wasted because the day turned out exactly as we envisioned.”
Julia has the perfect advice for engaged couples. She says, “Have the wedding you want, not the wedding everyone else wants. We had an extremely clear vision of how we wanted the day to look, and we stuck to that regardless of feedback from others. Because it’s your day – not your grandmother’s day, not your crazy aunt’s day; YOUR day. We had an extremely untraditional wedding that sometimes made our mothers cringe when discussing plans. But on that day, it was everything we wanted it to be, everyone had an amazing time, and almost everyone commented on how well it reflected us as a couple and that it was the most enjoyable wedding they’ve ever been to. It can be hard to put your foot down against the people you love, but I promise you will be happier with the outcome if you listen to yourself.”
Julia and Zack had a beautiful wedding that was completely their own. In the end it was one of the best experiences for all in attendance. Sometimes being different is the perfect thing for all involved; it provides the opportunity for excitement and fun as it strays from the norm. Congratulations to the happy couple!
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